1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a method of removing a soluble material layer formed on a surface of a base material by dissolving the soluble material layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a method of plating on a resin base material, a treatment method is known that includes a step of performing etching treatment on a surface of a resin base material, a step of performing catalyst adsorption treatment by which a metal catalyst is adsorbed to the treated surface after the etching treatment, a step of performing electroless plating treatment on the treated surface after the catalyst adsorption treatment, and a step of performing metal plating treatment on the treated surface after the electroless plating treatment (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-031306, for example).
For example, when an integrated circuit (IC) chip is mounted on a printed circuit board, an IC socket or another connector is used. To suppress cross talk noise and the like between terminals of this type of IC socket, metal-plated layers are formed on surfaces of a housing made of a synthetic resin to have an electromagnetic shield function. With this type of housing, places at which a metal-plated layer is formed are restricted to prevent a short-circuit and other problems. To form a metal-plated layer at desired places, therefore, a metal-plated layer is formed in a wide range on a housing surface, after which etching treatment is performed to remove unnecessary portions by dissolving them.
In the above etching treatment, a portion at which a metal-plated layer is needed is protected (masked) by pressing, for example, an elastic member such as a silicone rubber against the portion. Unnecessary portions, which are not protected, are removed by dissolved them with an etching liquid. However, the metal-plated layer may not be adequately removed on a boundary between a portion at which a metal-plated layer is needed and a portion at which a metal-plated layer is not needed. This has been problematic in precision with which a metal-plated layer is formed.